Fracturing fluid delivery system

ABSTRACT

A fracturing fluid delivery system is provided. In one embodiment, the system includes a fracturing manifold and a fracturing tree. A fluid conduit is coupled between the fracturing manifold and the fracturing tree to enable receipt of fracturing fluid by the fracturing tree from the fracturing manifold through the fluid conduit. Further, the fluid conduit is an adjustable fluid conduit that provides a line-of-sight fluid connection from the fracturing manifold to the fracturing tree. Additional systems, devices, and methods are also disclosed.

BACKGROUND

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects ofart that may be related to various aspects of the presently describedembodiments. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing thereader with background information to facilitate a better understandingof the various aspects of the present embodiments. Accordingly, itshould be understood that these statements are to be read in this light,and not as admissions of prior art.

In order to meet consumer and industrial demand for natural resources,companies often invest significant amounts of time and money insearching for and extracting oil, natural gas, and other subterraneanresources from the earth. Particularly, once a desired subterraneanresource is discovered, drilling and production systems are oftenemployed to access and extract the resource. These systems may belocated onshore or offshore depending on the location of a desiredresource. Further, such systems generally include a wellhead assemblythrough which the resource is extracted. These wellhead assemblies mayinclude a wide variety of components, such as various casings, valves,fluid conduits, and the like, that control drilling or extractionoperations.

Additionally, such wellhead assemblies may use a fracturing tree andother components to facilitate a fracturing process and enhanceproduction from a well. As will be appreciated, resources such as oiland natural gas are generally extracted from fissures or other cavitiesformed in various subterranean rock formations or strata. To facilitateextraction of such resources, a well may be subjected to a fracturingprocess that creates one or more man-made fractures in a rock formation.This facilitates, for example, coupling of pre-existing fissures andcavities, allowing oil, gas, or the like to flow into the wellbore. Suchfracturing processes typically include injecting a fracturingfluid—which is often a mixture including sand and water—into the well toincrease the well's pressure and form the man-made fractures. Afracturing manifold may provide fracturing fluid to one or morefracturing trees via fracturing lines (e.g., pipes). But the fracturingmanifolds and associated fracturing trees are typically large and heavy,and may be mounted to other equipment at a fixed location, makingadjustments between the fracturing manifold and a fracturing treedifficult.

SUMMARY

Certain aspects of some embodiments disclosed herein are set forthbelow. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merelyto provide the reader with a brief summary of certain forms theinvention might take and that these aspects are not intended to limitthe scope of the invention. Indeed, the invention may encompass avariety of aspects that may not be set forth below.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to fracturingfluid delivery systems having adjustable fluid connectors thatfacilitate alignment and coupling of fracturing manifolds withfracturing trees. In one embodiment, a fracturing manifold is connectedto a fracturing tree with a single, line-of-sight fracturing fluidconnector. This fluid connector includes connection blocks for couplingto the fracturing manifold and the fracturing tree, with the connectionblocks joined by a linearly-adjustable fluid conduit coupled to theblocks with pivot connections. The pivot connections and linearadjustability of the fluid conduit facilitate connection of the fluidconnector to the fracturing manifold and the fracturing tree.

Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation tovarious aspects of the present embodiments. Further features may also beincorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements andadditional features may exist individually or in any combination. Forinstance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more ofthe illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of theabove-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in anycombination. Again, the brief summary presented above is intended onlyto familiarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of someembodiments without limitation to the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of certain embodimentswill become better understood when the following detailed description isread with reference to the accompanying drawings in which likecharacters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 generally depicts an adjustable fracturing system in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the adjustable fracturing system of FIG. 1 with afracturing manifold coupled to multiple fracturing trees in accordancewith one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of certain components of an adjustablefracturing system, including a portion of the fracturing manifoldmounted on a skid and joined to fracturing trees with adjustable fluidconnectors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the components of the adjustable fracturingsystem depicted in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are a side elevational view and a vertical cross-sectionof a linearly adjustable fluid conduit of the fluid connector of FIGS. 3and 4 in accordance with one embodiment;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are detail views of a hydraulic quick-connect assembly forlocking a ball joint pipe to the rest of the fluid conduit of FIGS. 5and 6 in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a horizontal cross-section of the fluid conduit of FIGS. 5 and6;

FIG. 10 depicts a ball element of the conduit of FIGS. 5 and 6 receivedwithin a socket of a connection block to form a ball-and-socket jointthat facilitates coupling of the fluid connector to the fracturingmanifold and a fracturing tree in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of certain components of anotheradjustable fracturing system, including a portion of the fracturingmanifold mounted on a skid and joined to fracturing trees with otheradjustable fluid connectors, in accordance with one embodiment; and

FIGS. 12 and 13 are a perspective view and a vertical cross-section ofthe line-of-sight fluid connector of FIG. 11 in accordance with oneembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

Specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described below. Inan effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, allfeatures of an actual implementation may not be described in thespecification. It should be appreciated that in the development of anysuch actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project,numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve thedevelopers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related andbusiness-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation toanother. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a developmenteffort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be aroutine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those ofordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.

When introducing elements of various embodiments, the articles “a,”“an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or moreof the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” areintended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elementsother than the listed elements. Moreover, any use of “top,” “bottom,”“above,” “below,” other directional terms, and variations of these termsis made for convenience, but does not require any particular orientationof the components.

Turning now to the present figures, an example of a fracturing system 10is provided in FIGS. 1 and 2 in accordance with one embodiment. Thefracturing system 10 facilitates extraction of natural resources (e.g.,oil or natural gas) from a well 12 via a wellbore 14 and a wellhead 16.Particularly, by injecting a fracturing fluid into the well 12, thefracturing system 10 increases the number or size of fractures in a rockformation or strata to enhance recovery of natural resources present inthe formation. In the presently illustrated embodiment, the well 12 is asurface well accessed by equipment of wellhead 16 installed at surfacelevel (i.e., on ground 18). But it will be appreciated that naturalresources may be extracted from other wells, such as platform or subseawells.

The fracturing system 10 includes various components to control flow ofa fracturing fluid into the well 12. For instance, the depictedfracturing system 10 includes a fracturing tree 20 and a fracturingmanifold 22. The fracturing tree 20 includes at least one valve thatcontrols flow of the fracturing fluid into the wellhead 16 and,subsequently, into the well 12. Similarly, the fracturing manifold 22includes at least one valve that controls flow of the fracturing fluidto the fracturing tree 20 by a conduit or fluid connection 26 (e.g.,pipes).

The fracturing manifold 22 is mounted on at least one skid 24 (e.g., aplatform mounted on rails) to enable movement of the fracturing manifold22 with respect to the ground 18. As depicted in FIG. 2, the fracturingmanifold 22 is connected to provide fracturing fluid to multiplefracturing trees 20 and wellheads 16. But it is noted that thefracturing manifold 22 may instead be coupled to a single fracturingtree 20 in full accordance with the present techniques. In oneembodiment in which the fracturing manifold 22 is coupled to multiplefracturing trees 20, various valves of the fracturing manifold 22 may bemounted on separate skids 24 to enable variation in the spacing betweenthe valves.

Fracturing fluid from a supply 28 is provided to the fracturing manifold22. In FIG. 1, a connector 30 receives fracturing fluid from the supply28 through a conduit or fluid connection 32 (e.g., pipes or hoses) andthen transmits the fluid to the fracturing manifold 22 by way of asubterranean conduit or fluid connection 34 (e.g., pipes). In oneembodiment, the fracturing fluid supply 28 is provided by one or moretrucks that deliver the fracturing fluid, connect to the connector 30,and pump the fluid into the fracturing manifold 22 via the connector 30and connections 32 and 34. In another embodiment, the fracturing fluidsupply 28 is in the form of a reservoir from which fluid may be pumpedinto the fracturing manifold 22. But any other suitable sources offracturing fluid and manners for transmitting such fluid to thefracturing manifold may instead be used.

In at least some embodiments, fluid conduits with swivel or other pivotconnections are coupled between the fracturing manifold 22 andfracturing trees 20 to facilitate assembly of a fracturing fluiddelivery system. One such example is generally depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4as having a skid-mounted assembly 40 of the fracturing manifold 22coupled to a pair of fracturing trees 20 by fluid connectors 48. Theassembly 40 includes a pipe 42 spanning connection blocks 44. The pipe42 and the connection blocks 44 are part of a trunk line of the manifold22 for routing fracturing fluid to be delivered to multiple fracturingtrees, and it will be appreciated that other pipes or conduits can becoupled to the connection blocks 44 to join other portions of the trunkline (e.g., to other skid-mounted assemblies 40).

Valves 46 enable individual control of the flow of fracturing fluid fromthe trunk line to each fracturing tree 20 through the fluid connectors48. The valves 46 are depicted here as mounted on the skid 24 as part ofthe assembly 40 of the fracturing manifold 22. In other instances,valves 46 could be positioned elsewhere (e.g., at the other end of thefluid connectors 48) or omitted (e.g., valves of the fracturing treescould be used to control flow of fracturing fluid from the manifold intothe wells).

The fluid connectors 48 include connection blocks 50 and 52 joined byfluid conduits 54. In the presently depicted embodiment, the connectionblocks 50 are coupled to valves 46 at the fracturing manifold side ofthe fluid conduits 54 and may thus be referred to as fracturing manifoldconnection blocks 50. The connection blocks 52 are coupled to thefracturing trees 20 and may be referred to as fracturing tree connectionblocks 52. As shown in FIG. 3, the connection blocks 50 and 52 are elbowblocks mounted over the valves 46 and the trees 20, though otherarrangements are possible.

The connection blocks 50 and 52 in at least some embodiments areconnected to the fracturing manifold 22 and to the fracturing trees 20in a manner that allows these blocks 50 and 52 to swivel about theirvertical axes, as described further below. In some instances, the blocks50 and 52 can swivel a full 360° about their vertical axes to allowthese blocks to point in any desired direction in a horizontal plane.Pairs of the blocks 50 and 52 can be turned to face one another andfacilitate connection of the fracturing manifold 22 with the fracturingtrees 20 via the fluid connectors 48. Hydraulic cylinders 56 can be usedto rotate the blocks 50 and 52 about their vertical axes, though theblocks could be rotated in other ways, such as manually.

The fluid conduits 54 are joined to the blocks 50 and 52 with additionalswivel connections to further facilitate connection of the fluidconnectors 48 between the fracturing manifold 22 and the fracturingtrees 20. In at least some instances, the connection blocks 50 and 52are turned toward one another, such as shown in FIG. 4, duringinstallation to accommodate lateral spacing variations between theconnection points for the fluid connectors 48 (i.e., at the fracturingmanifold 22 and at the fracturing trees 20). The fluid conduits 54 canalso be rotated in their vertical planes via their swivel connectionswith the connection blocks to accommodate height differences between theconnection points.

In at least some embodiments, the fluid connectors 48 provideline-of-sight fluid connections between the fracturing manifold 22 andthe fracturing trees 20. For example, each of the fluid connectors 48depicted in FIG. 3 has a straight, rigid conduit 54 that extendslinearly from its fracturing manifold connection block 50 to itsfracturing tree connection block 52. As noted above, the conduit 54 maybe joined to the connection blocks 50 and 52 with swivel connections.The conduit 54 in this example is a straight, line-of-sight fluidconnection that spans the distance from the manifold assembly 40 to afracturing tree 20.

Additional details of the conduit 54 may be better understood withreference to FIGS. 5 and 6. These figures show the conduit 54 as havinga linearly adjustable design including an inner body 62 received withinan outer body 64. A collar 66 may also be threaded into the outer body64 so as to be positioned concentrically between the inner body 62 andouter body 64.

The depicted conduit 54 also includes ball joint pipes 68 at oppositeends of the adjustable body. These pipes 68 include ball elements thatmay be received within the connection blocks 50 and 52 to provide theswivel connections (e.g., ball joints) between the conduit 54 and theconnection blocks 50 and 52, as described above. The conduit 54 includesconnection assemblies that allow quick connections of the ball jointpipes 68 to the linearly adjustable body (i.e., to one end of the innerbody 62 and to the opposite end of the outer body 64) with hydrauliccylinders 70.

More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 6-8, connection assemblies forlocking the ball joint pipes 68 to the linearly adjustable body includeenergizing rings 78, snap rings 80, and split rings 82. The hydrauliccylinders 70 control the position of the energizing rings 78 withrespect to the snap rings 80. When one of the connection assemblies isin the unlocked position, as generally depicted in FIG. 8, the hydrauliccylinders 70 of that assembly are extended so that the energizing ring78 and the snap ring 80 are separated. The ball joint pipe 68 can thenbe locked to the adjustable body (e.g., to the inner body 62 or theouter body 64) by retracting the cylinders 70 and moving the energizingring 78 along the pipe 68 to engage the snap ring 80, such as shown inFIG. 7. The energizing ring 78 drives the snap ring 80 radially outwardinto its locked position in a landing groove of the adjustable body. Inthis locked position, the snap ring 80 inhibits movement of the balljoint pipe 68 relative to the adjustable body. In the depictedembodiment, the snap ring 80 is inwardly biased and moving theenergizing ring 78 to the position shown in FIG. 7 causes the snap ring80 to contract about the ball joint pipe 68 and exit the landing grooveof the adjustable body.

Hydraulic cylinders 72, such as shown in FIGS. 5 and 9, can be operatedto lengthen or shorten the adjustable conduit body by adjusting theamount by which the inner body 62 extends from the outer body 64. Thelinearly adjustable conduit body can be constructed to allow for anydesired amount of variation in length. Some conduit bodies may allow anadjustment range of twelve inches or eighteen inches, for instance.Wiper seals 84 inhibit leakage from the conduit between the inner body62 and the outer body 64. The wiper seals 84 can be retained within theouter body 64 with a packing gland 86 threaded into the outer body 64,as generally depicted in FIGS. 6 and 9, or in any other suitable manner.

As noted above, the rounded ends of the ball joint pipes 68 can bereceived in the connection blocks 50 and 52 to facilitate connection ofthe fluid connector 48 across the manifold 22 and a tree 20. As depictedin FIG. 10, the ball joint pipe 68 is coupled to the connection block 52with a ball-and-socket joint. More particularly, a ball element of theball joint pipe 68 is received in a socket 90 of the connection block 52and allows fluid communication between the bore of the conduit 54 and abore 88 of the connection block 52. Seals 92 (e.g., thermoplastic,metal, or elastomeric seals) inhibit fluid leakage at the connection andare retained within the socket 90 by retaining rings 94. A retainingring 96 coupled to the connection block 52 retains the ball elementwithin the socket 90. The ball element of the ball joint pipe 68 at theopposite end of the conduit 54 can be coupled to the connection block 50in a similar or identical manner to that shown and described withrespect to FIG. 10.

The ball element can be rotated within the socket 90, which allowsvariation of the angular position of the ball joint pipe 68 (and theconduit 54 as a whole) with respect to the connection block 52. Forexample, the end of the conduit 54 opposite the ball joint pipe 68 shownin FIG. 10 can be raised or lowered to change the angle in the verticalplane between the axis of the ball joint pipe 68 and the vertical axisof the connection block 52. The connection block 50 can be coupled tothe conduit 54 in a similar or identical ball-and-socket arrangement. Inother instances, the conduit 54 can be connected to the connectionblocks 50 and 52 with some other form of pivot joints. Whether providedas ball-and-socket connections or in some other form, these pivot jointsaccommodate elevational differences between the connection blocks 50 and52 when connected at the fracturing manifold 22 and the fracturing tree20. In some instances, a ball element in a socket 90 can be locked intoplace after it is positioned in a desired manner. For example, in someembodiments the connection of the retaining ring 96 to the connectionblock 50 or 52 is tightened (e.g., by passing fasteners through theretaining ring 96 and threading these fasteners into mating holes in theconnection block) after positioning the ball element to preload theretaining ring against the ball element. In such cases, contact pressureon the ball element inhibits further movement within the socket 90.Other embodiments use one or more set screws extending through theretaining ring 96 that can be tightened to contact the ball element andinhibit further movement of the ball element in the socket 90.

As noted above, the connection blocks 50 and 52 can also be rotated toface one another and facilitate coupling of a fluid connector 48 acrossthe fracturing manifold 22 and a fracturing tree 20. In the embodimentgenerally illustrated in FIG. 10, the connection block 52 is coupled toan adapter spool 102, which can be coupled to another component of afracturing tree 20 (as shown in FIG. 2). The depicted adapter spool 102includes a lower flange 104 to facilitate connection to the rest of thefracturing tree 20, but in other embodiments the flange could be omitted(e.g., the lower end of the spool 102 could have threaded holes forreceiving fastening bolts). In at least some embodiments, the connectionbetween the connection block 52 and the adapter spool 102 is a swiveljoint that includes one or more bearings 106. The bearings 106 can takeany suitable form, such as the ball bearings shown in a groove of theadapter spool 102 in FIG. 10. The connection block 52 can be rotated onthe bearings 106 to align the front face of the connection block 52(i.e., the face having the socket 90) with that of the connection block50. The connection block 50 can include a similar or identical adapterspool 102 that joins the connection block 50 to another component of thefracturing manifold 22 (e.g., to a valve 46) and allows the connectionblock 50 to also be rotated to face the connection block 52.

Further, in at least some embodiments, such as those with theball-and-socket arrangement shown in FIG. 10, the conduit 54 could alsobe moved laterally to change the angle in the horizontal plane betweenthe axis of ball joint pipe 68 and a horizontal axis of the connectionblock 52 (or of the connection block 50 at the opposite ball joint pipe68) extending through the retaining ring 96. In these embodiments, apair of connection blocks 50 and 52 of a given fluid connector 48 couldbe rotated to generally face one another, while the conduit 54 could berotated laterally with respect to the connection blocks for fineradjustment to accommodate some amount of angular misalignment betweenthe connection blocks.

The connection blocks 50 and 52 can be coupled to the adapter spools 102in any suitable manner. For instance, as generally shown in FIG. 10,each of these connection blocks 50 and 52 can be locked to the adapterspools 102 with a quick-connect assembly including hydraulic cylinders110, an energizing ring 112, and a snap ring 114. Like the quick-connectassemblies for locking the ball joint pipes 68 to the linearlyadjustable body of the fluid conduit 54, the cylinders 110 can beretracted to draw the energizing ring 112 down along the body of theconnection block 52 and into engagement with the snap ring 114, which isdriven radially outward into a locking groove in the adapter spool 102.In this locked position, the snap ring 114 retains a flanged end of theconnection block 52 within the spool 102. During disassembly, thecylinders 110 can be extended to move the energizing ring 112 out ofengagement with the snap ring 114, which allows the snap ring 114 toexit the locking groove and the connection block 52 to be lifted out ofthe adapter spool 102.

When connecting the fracturing manifold 22 to a fracturing tree 20 witha fluid connector 48, the components of the fluid connector 48 can beassembled in any suitable order. In some embodiments, the connectionblock 50 is attached to the fracturing manifold 22 and the connectionblock 52 is attached to the fracturing tree 20 before joining theconnection blocks 50 and 52 with the conduit 54. The ball joint pipes 68could be coupled to the connection blocks 50 and 52 (e.g., via the pivotconnections described above) before or after the connection blocks 50and 52 are attached to the fracturing manifold 22 and the fracturingtree 20. In certain instances, the two ball joint pipes 68 of theconduit 54 are individually coupled to the connection blocks 50 and 52and the adjustable-length portion of the conduit having the inner body62 and the outer body 64 is then connected to each of the ball jointpipes 68. For example, once the ball joint pipes 68 are connected to theconnection blocks 50 and 52, the adjustable-length portion of theconduit 54 can be connected to one of the ball joint pipes 68 (e.g., viathe quick-connect assembly described above), the inner body 62 and theouter body 64 may then be moved with respect to one another to lengthenthis portion of the conduit 54 and receive the second ball joint pipe 68within the inner or outer body, and this second ball joint pipe 68 canthen be locked to the rest of the conduit 54 (e.g., with anotherquick-connect assembly, as described above).

In another embodiment, the ball joint pipes 68 are connected with theinner and outer bodies 62 and 64 before connecting the conduit 54 to oneor both of the connection blocks 50 and 52. For example, the fullconduit 54 can be coupled with one of the ball joint pipes 68 to one ofthe connection blocks 50 or 52 previously mounted on the fracturingmanifold 22 or the fracturing tree 20, and then lengthened so as toextend a ball element of the other ball joint pipe 68 into the socket 90of the other one of the mounted connection blocks 50 or 52. Theretaining rings 96 for the ball elements can be carried on the conduit54 (e.g., on the ball joint pipes 68) before the ball elements of thepipes 68 are positioned in the sockets 90 of the connection blocks. Oncea ball element of a pipe 68 is inserted into a socket 90, its retainingring 96 can be moved against and fastened to the connection block inwhich the ball element was received.

In still another embodiment, the connection blocks 50 and 52 are joinedto the conduit 54 before they are attached to the fracturing manifold 22and the fracturing tree 20. In such instances, one of the connectionblocks 50 or 52 can be attached to the fracturing manifold 22 or thefracturing tree 20, the length of the conduit 54 can be adjusted by adesired amount to span the proper distance across the fracturingmanifold 22 and the fracturing tree 20, and the other of the connectionblocks 50 and 52 can then be attached to the fracturing manifold 22 orthe fracturing tree 20.

Although certain locking assemblies with energizing rings are describedabove for quickly connecting the ball joint pipes 68 to the inner andouter bodies 62 and 64 of the conduit 54, and for joining the connectionblocks 50 and 52 to the fracturing manifold 22 and the fracturing tree20 (e.g., via adapter spools 102), in other embodiments these componentscan be joined in other ways. For example, as depicted in FIGS. 11-13,fluid connectors 118 without such energizing rings can be used to routefracturing fluid from the fracturing manifold 22 to the fracturing trees20. These fluid connectors 118 include fracturing manifold connectionblocks 120, fracturing tree connection blocks 122, and rigid, linearlyadjustable fluid conduits 124. These components are similar to theconnection blocks 50 and 52 and conduits 54 discussed above, but theconnection blocks 120 and 122 are coupled to the fracturing manifold 22and to the fracturing trees 20 with clamps 128, rather than with alocking assembly having an energizing ring 112 and snap ring 114. Theclamps 128 can be positioned about lower flanges of the connectionblocks 120 and 122 and mating upper flanges of adapter spools 130 andthen tightened to secure the connection blocks to the adapter spools.The adapter spools 130 can be joined to other components of thefracturing manifold 22 and the fracturing trees 20, as shown in FIG. 11.

The conduit 124 has a linearly adjustable length and includes an innermandrel or body 132 received within an outer body 134. A collar 136 isthreaded into the outer body 134 to retain a flange of the inner body132, and the body of the conduit 124 can be lengthened or shortened bymoving the inner body 132 with respect to the outer body 134. Ball jointpipes 138 can be coupled to the inner and outer bodies 132 and 134 asopposite ends of the conduit 124, and ball elements of these pipes 138can be received in sockets of the connection blocks 120 and 122 andretained by retaining rings 140 in manner like that described above withrespect to FIG. 10.

But rather than coupling these ball joint pipes 138 to the inner andouter bodies 132 and 134 with quick-connect locking assemblies havingenergizing rings and snap rings, in the embodiment depicted in FIGS.11-13 the ball joint pipes 138 include flanges 142 for connecting tomating flanges of the inner and outer bodies 132 and 134. As shown inFIG. 13, the flanges 142 are threaded onto the ball joint pipes 138while the mating flanges of the inner and outer bodies 132 and 134 areintegrally formed as part of the bodies. Having removable threadedflanges 142 allows retaining rings 140 to be positioned onto the balljoint pipes 138 when the threaded flanges 142 are disconnected. In otherinstances, however, the flanges 142 are formed integrally with the balljoint pipes 138 (in which case retaining rings 140 could be provided assplit rings to allow the rings 140 to be positioned about the ball jointpipes 138 without interference from the flanges 142), or the matingflanges could be removable flanges threaded onto the inner and outerbodies 132 and 134. Although not shown in FIG. 13, it will beappreciated that the fluid connector 118 can include various seals orother components (e.g., seals 84 and 90, packing gland 86, and sealretaining rings 94) like those described above for fluid connector 48.Further, like the fluid connectors 48, the components of the fluidconnectors 118 can be coupled to one another and to the fracturing trees20 and the fracturing manifold 22 in any suitable order.

The fracturing fluid delivery systems described above can be constructedfor various operating pressures and with different bore sizes dependingon the intended application. In some embodiments, the fluid connectors48 and 118 are constructed for rated maximum operating pressures of10-15 ksi (approximately 69-103 MPa). Further, the conduits 54 and 124of some embodiments have bores between four and eight inches (appr. 10and 20 cm) in diameter, such as a five-and-one-eighth-inch (appr. 13 cm)diameter or a seven-inch (appr. 18 cm) diameter.

Additionally, while certain embodiments of fluid connectors for routingfluid from a fracturing manifold to a fracturing tree are describedabove, it will be appreciated that such fluid connectors could takeother forms. For example, while the connection blocks 50, 52, 120, and122 are described as having pivot connections with the rigid, linearlyadjustable fluid conduits 54 and 124, in other instances the fluidconduits could have fixed, non-pivoting connections at one or both ofthe fracturing manifold 22 and the fracturing trees 20. The rigidconduits in such instances could be extended and retracted to span thedistance between the connection points at the manifold and at the trees,as described above.

In other cases, multiple ball joint pipes could be connected in serieswith multiple pivot connections at one or both ends of the fluid conduit54 or 124 to accommodate angular misalignments greater than that whichcould be accommodated by a single ball joint pipe and pivot connection.For instance, the ball element of a first ball joint pipe 68 could bereceived in a socket of a connection block that is attached to anadditional ball joint pipe 68, rather than to a fracturing tree orfracturing manifold. A ball element of this additional ball joint pipe68 could be received instead in the socket 90 of the connection block 50or 52.

Still further, the rigid, linearly adjustable conduits described abovecould also be used to convey fluid between other components. Forexample, one system could include an intermediate fracturing manifoldthat receives fracturing fluid from the fracturing manifold 22 anddistributes the fracturing fluid to multiple fracturing trees 20.Linearly adjustable fluid conduits 54 or 124 could be used to connectthe two fracturing manifolds together or could be used to connect theintermediate fracturing manifold to the fracturing trees 20.

While the aspects of the present disclosure may be susceptible tovarious modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments havebeen shown by way of example in the drawings and have been described indetail herein. But it should be understood that the invention is notintended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, theinvention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternativesfalling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by thefollowing appended claims.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A fracturing system comprising: a wellhead assemblymounted over a well; a fracturing fluid supply line; a vertical branchin fluid communication with and extending upward from the fracturingfluid supply line; and a fluid conduit coupling the vertical branch influid communication with the wellhead assembly such that the fluidconduit provides the only fluid path from the vertical branch to thewellhead assembly during fracturing; wherein the fluid conduit extendslinearly from the vertical branch to the wellhead assembly.
 22. Thefracturing system of claim 21, wherein the vertical branch includes anoutlet port facing an inlet port of the wellhead assembly, and the fluidconduit extends linearly from the outlet port of the vertical branch tothe inlet port of the wellhead assembly.
 23. The fracturing system ofclaim 22, wherein the vertical branch includes an elbow having theoutlet port of the vertical branch.
 24. The fracturing system of claim21, wherein the wellhead assembly includes a fracturing tree.
 25. Thefracturing system of claim 21, wherein the fluid conduit is anadjustable fluid conduit.
 26. The fracturing system of claim 21,comprising a fracturing fluid supply coupled to provide fracturing fluidto the fracturing fluid supply line.
 27. A fracturing system comprising:a wellhead assembly mounted over a well; a fracturing fluid supply line;and a fluid path coupling the fracturing fluid supply line to thewellhead assembly so as to provide fracturing fluid from the fracturingfluid supply line to the well; wherein the fluid path includes anupright leg and a lateral leg that are coplanar, the upright leg of thefluid path extends upward from the fracturing fluid supply line and isarranged to receive fracturing fluid flowing upward out of thefracturing fluid supply line, and the lateral leg of the fluid pathextends linearly between the upright leg of the fluid path and thewellhead assembly.
 28. The fracturing system of claim 27, wherein thewellhead assembly includes a valve.
 29. The fracturing system of claim27, comprising an elbow with a bore joining the upright leg of the fluidpath and the lateral leg of the fluid path.
 30. The fracturing system ofclaim 27, comprising a linearly adjustable conduit through which thefluid path passes.
 31. A method comprising: coupling a fracturing fluidsupply line to a wellhead assembly mounted over a well, wherein couplingthe fracturing fluid supply line to the wellhead assembly includes:coupling a fluid conduit to the wellhead assembly; and coupling thefluid conduit to a vertical branch connected to the fracturing fluidsupply line such that the fluid conduit is between the wellhead assemblyand the vertical branch to provide a linear flow path from the verticalbranch to the wellhead assembly, the vertical branch provides a risingflow path from the fracturing fluid supply line, and the rising flowpath provided by the vertical branch and the linear flow path providedby the fluid conduit from the vertical branch to the wellhead assemblyare coplanar.
 32. The method of claim 31, wherein coupling the fluidconduit to the vertical branch includes coupling the fluid conduit tothe vertical branch via a connection block.
 33. The method of claim 31,comprising pumping fracturing fluid into the well through the fracturingfluid supply line, the vertical branch, the fluid conduit, and thewellhead assembly.